To ask a yes/no question about an ongoing action, place the question particle after the present continuous verb.
In Turkish, question particles are always written as a separate word. Because the present continuous tense marker (-yor) always ends with the vowel o, the 4-way vowel harmony rule dictates that the question particle following it will always be mu.
The Third Person (He/She/It)
For the third-person singular, simply add the standalone word mu after the conjugated verb.
| Is mother cooking soup in the kitchen? | Anne mutfakta çorba pişiriyor mu? |
| Is the girl using a computer in the office? | Kız ofiste bilgisayar kullanıyor mu? |
| Is the baby growing fast? | Bebek çabuk büyüyor mu? |
| Today is cold, is the child cold? | Bugün soğuk, çocuk üşüyor mu? |
Adding Personal Suffixes
When asking questions using other pronouns (like "Am I?" or "Are you?"), the personal suffix attaches directly to the question particle mu, not to the main verb.
| Pronoun | Verb | Question Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ben | okuyor | muyum? | Am I reading? |
| Sen | okuyor | musun? | Are you reading? |
| O | okuyor | mu? | Is he/she/it reading? |
| Biz | okuyor | muyuz? | Are we reading? |
| Siz | okuyor | musunuz? | Are you (plural) reading? |
Because the particle is mu, the personal suffixes follow vowel harmony for the letter u (-um, -sun, -uz, -sunuz). Notice that for "I" and "we", a buffer consonant y is inserted to prevent two vowels from touching (muyum, muyuz).
| Are you waiting for a bus? | Sen otobüs bekliyor musun? |
| Are you cooking fish? | Sen balık pişiriyor musun? |
| Are we playing a game now? | Biz şimdi oyun oynuyor muyuz? |